To Save a Life
by Luthien Luinwe
Summary: Aaron Hotchner gets more than he bargained for when he stops a crime in progress. And when a new case arises involving adopted teenagers across the country, he can't help but believe the victim he rescued has a connection. But how do you help someone who does not want it? And how do you help to heal that which is broken?
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own _Criminal Minds_**

"**Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality."**

**-Edgar Allan Poe**

It was on a seemingly ordinary Saturday night that unit chief of the BAU Aaron Hotchner found himself walking to his car alongside his date, Beth, and his son, Jack, from a so-called 'family night out.' He and Beth thought it best that Jack spend time with the both of them together, so if things were to get more serious, it wouldn't be as dramatic of a change.

"You have fun, Jack?" Hotch asked his son as he opened the back door of the vehicle. Jack nodded eagerly. He loved spending time with his father, and even with Beth, though he did still miss his mother. Still though, with Hotch's job, Jack didn't get to see him as much as he wanted to, but he knew that his father had to catch the bad guys, and he guessed that was important.

"I know I did," Beth smiled as she got into the passenger seat. She was surprised Jack wasn't tired. It was definitely past his bedtime. She guessed he was still hyped up about having had some fun. She closed the passenger door and looked over at Aaron, who had yet to get into the car. She studied his facial expression carefully. Though they hadn't been dating long, she knew enough about him to know when something was wrong. She frowned and followed his gaze to see what was going on.

Two men, who had to have been at least in their late thirties, if not in their forties, were in an alley way. She figured it was nothing major, probably a drug deal or something of the sorts. "It's probably nothing, Aaron," she said gently before looking more closely. Aaron wasn't just upset; he was angry, more angry than she could remember seeing him. "Aaron?" she asked gently.

Aaron shook his head. "Look closer," he prompted. Beth sighed, but obliged anyway. It took her a moment before she realized what was troubling Aaron so much. The two men weren't the only ones there. There was a girl, sixteen, seventeen years old at the most. And she looked genuinely afraid. And as well she should have. The men had her pinned against a brick wall, hiding her in the shadows, not wanting her to be seen. She saw the man on the left mouth a few words, only to see the girl shake her head furiously. They were too far to hear anything, but she knew no good could come out of the situation. "Oh my God…" she breathed as she looked back over to where Aaron had been standing, only to see that he had gone. _Be careful, _she pleaded silently.

"Where did daddy go?" Jack asked Beth innocently. He had seen Aaron leave, but he had not seen where.

"He went to stop some bad guys," Beth said gently. She turned in her seat to look back at the boy. "But he'll be back soon, I promise." She looked back at the scene taking place, wishing she could hear what was going on.

"Oh, we're gonna have fun with you," one of the men said to the teenaged girl pinned against the wall. "We've heard stories about you, and you'd better live up to your reputation." He grabbed a handful of the girl's raven black hair and forced her head back.

"Leave me alone!" the girl pleaded. She refused to look the man in the eye, and she refused to show fear. She had learned early on that it wouldn't get her anywhere. She had to think rationally. If she didn't… She didn't want to think about what would happen if she didn't.

"Now why would we do that?" the second man questioned. "We want what we asked for." Without warning, he backhanded the girl. The girl's head fell to the side, her cheek burning, and unwanted tears stinging her eyes. "And you shouldn't speak unless we tell you to."

"Leave the girl alone," a new voice said from the entrance to the alley. Three pairs of eyes looked over at him, two pairs angry, and one pair afraid.

"And why should we do that?" the first man questioned as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Not every day you see a pretty little girl like this one."

"And it isn't every day you see an FBI agent willing to let you go if you back off now," Aaron responded flatly. "I'll repeat myself once, and only once. Leave the girl alone, or I'll arrest you for sexual assault, harassment, and attempted rape. Is that understood?"

The two men looked at each other, at the girl, at the agent, and back at each other. "It's not worth it," the second man said before walking away, the first following after him.

Aaron looked over at the girl, who was carefully backing away from him. "Are you alright?" he asked, only to receive silence in response. He held his hands up, in a gesture to show that he wouldn't hurt her. He sighed when he realized she wasn't going to speak. "Let me call your parents for you. Will you let me do that?" he asked gently.

The girl shook her head furiously, tears finally falling. "Don't call him, please," she said. Aaron couldn't help but to think she wasn't asking, but begging him not to call. "Please don't call him…" the girl looked scared out of her mind.

Hotch took a deep breath before speaking again. "Can I at least take you to a hospital, then?" he asked calmly. He didn't want to push her into running off. The way she had handled the situation, he had a strong feeling she had been assaulted before, probably worse.

"I don't need to go to a hospital," the girl insisted. "I'm fine, really."

"Then you wouldn't mind getting checked out to make sure," Hotch responded. It was obvious he wasn't going to take no for an answer. Now that he had gotten himself involved, he felt a strong need to make sure she was left at a safe place, at least for the night. "My son and girlfriend are with me. I promise nothing is going to happen to you."

"Do I have a choice?" the girl finally asked.

"No, not really," Hotch responded. "Let's get you out of here." He silently led the girl to the car, turning around to make sure she hadn't disappeared every once in awhile. "What's your name?" he asked as the car came into sight.

"Why do you care?" the girl responded coldly.

"Because I would like to know how you prefer to be addressed," Hotch answered, not letting his demeanor falter. "Aaron Hotchner, my team calls me Hotch."

"River," the girl spoke up after a moment. "Just River."

"Alright, then," Hotch nodded. "Let me tell my family what's going on before you get into the car, okay?" he asked. River nodded wordlessly and waited on the curb. Hotch motioned for Beth to roll down her window.

"What's going on?" Beth asked as she looked between Hotch and River. She was glad to see that Aaron had gotten the girl away from the situation, but wasn't sure why she was still with him.

"We're taking her to the hospital," Hotch said in a suddenly all-business manner. "I think there was more to this than I thought," he added lowly, so that they wouldn't be overheard. "I wanted to call her parents to come and pick her up, but she panicked."

"You think something happened?" Beth asked with a frown.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," Aaron answered before looking back at Jack. "My friend is going to ride with us, okay?" he asked. "We're going to be home late, but it's okay. You don't have school tomorrow."

"Okay, daddy," Jack responded happily. He didn't have the slightest idea as to what had happened.

Hotch opened the door for River, who hesitantly sat down next to Jack. Hotch couldn't help but notice how cautious she was in everything she did, how scared and timid she seemed to be. Something had definitely happened. He had a pretty good suspicion, but there was no way to know for sure until she was checked out. "Are you sure you don't want me to contact anyone?" he asked as he started the car and pulled out of the parking space. River nodded silently. "No family or anything?"

River shook her head. "He wouldn't care," she said bitterly. "If anything, he'd be furious."

"Any reason why?" Hotch asked. He was trying to get information without it seeming too much like an interview.

"Because he doesn't care about anyone," River answered.

"You keep saying 'he,'" Hotch pointed out. "Is your mother not in the picture?"

"None of my birth family are."

"You're adopted then," Hotch said. It wasn't a question.

"I don't want to talk about it," River said. If she had been cold before, she was even colder then.

Hotch kept thinking about the signs that he saw during the remainder of the silent drive to the closest hospital. One thing was most definitely certain, he was _very _interested in meeting her adoptive father, and he was _very _interested in asking him several questions.

"**Fear cuts deeper than swords." **

**-George R.R. Martin, **_**A Game of Thrones**_


	2. Chapter 2

"**Just because something isn't a lie does not mean that it isn't deceptive. A liar knows that he is a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction."**

**-Criss Jamie**

Two hours had passed since Aaron Hotchner had taken River to the hospital. Though he had encouraged Beth and Jack to go home, they had opted to stay with him as he paced the waiting room impatiently. Two hours, and all he had been told was that the girl's adoptive father had been contacted and would be there shortly. He found himself constantly looking over at the door, watching everyone who entered, almost hoping that it was the man. He couldn't help but match similarities with the scenario to that of a case that had been brought to the attention of the BAU.

Over the course of three weeks, three teenage girls, between ages 15 and 17 had been found dead. All had been brutally sexually assaulted, all had been injected with amounts of heroin that would easily kill a man Morgan's size, and all had been adopted around the age of five. Finding out that River had been adopted sent up further red flags in the agent's mind. He suspected sexual assault due to the girl's behavior, which was part of the reason why he had offered to take her to the hospital. All he needed was proof, and the hope that she would comply and give information.

Of course he would have gotten her to a safe location anyway. It wouldn't do to leave her in the middle of the streets alone. He would also make sure she remained safe. And if she was in danger, which was a high possibility given the circumstances, he would step up further.

"Aaron," Beth said softly as she placed a gentle hand on the man's shoulder. "Her doctor wants to talk to you."

Hotch nodded and followed the doctor back into the hallway. "We just got a call from her father stating that he won't be able to get in today," he said. Hotch sighed in annoyance. He desperately wanted to question the man. In their line of work, any time a minor was harmed, the parents were usually the first suspects that came to mind. "But he did give me permission to speak with the ones that brought her here."

"Alright then," Hotch said as he motioned for the doctor to continue. He wanted to know what they had found. While they were doing a routine check-up on River, they had found some things to lead them to do other tests, one of them being a rape kit that she had reluctantly, and almost fearfully, agreed to. "What did you find?"

"She was definitely raped," the doctor said slowly. "Multiple times over the past day alone. We're running DNA tests now, and we also had her take the morning after pill just in case anything happened." Hotch took a deep breath to keep from lashing out. He had to remind himself that none of this was the doctor's fault, nor was it River's, it was whoever had done it to her. "We also found severe bruising around her lower abdomen and back."

"I need to make a few calls," Hotch said before walking back out to the waiting room. Beth looked up at him curiously, and he shook his head as he walked outside and pulled out his phone in order to contact the team. He had a strong feeling they'd found just the person they needed to catch the son of a bitch responsible for the murders. After making the calls he walked back into the waiting room.

"What happened, Aaron?" Beth asked. Jack had long since fallen asleep on a few of the chairs.

"If something ever happened to Jack, God forbid, where would I be?" Hotch asked without answering the question.

Beth frowned at that. "What do you mean?"

"Just answer the question, Beth," Hotch said. "If anything were to happen to Jack, where would I be?"

"Right beside him," Beth answered. "Why? How is this relevant?"

"So where is this girl's father, then?" Hotch questioned. "Why isn't he here? That's what I want to know…"

"I think you're overanalyzing this," Beth sighed.

"I'm not willing to risk that," Hotch responded. "Especially with all of the connections she has to the case we're currently working. She screams potential victim, if not the next one." He looked over at his sleeping son and handed Beth his keys. Beth opened her mouth to protest, but Hotch stopped her. "There's no sense in you two staying here. I'll be fine. The others are on their way."

Beth nodded eventually. "Okay then," she said. She gently woke Jack before the two left the hospital, crossing paths with Prentiss and Morgan as they walked.

"You'd better have a damn good reason for getting me up in the middle of the night, Hotch," Morgan said almost threateningly. "You said you'd explain when we got here. Now explain."

"I stopped a crime in progress," Hotch said coolly. "The girl, River, has been sexually assaulted numerous times in just these past few days alone. She's also adopted," he added.

"So you think she has a connection to the case?" Prentiss asked.

"I'm not entirely sure. Prentiss, I need you to interview her, she's much more likely to answer you than she would be to answer me or Morgan. Morgan, come with me," Hotch commanded.

"Got it," Prentiss said before finding the room number from the receptionist.

"River?" Prentiss asked gently as she walked into the room. She looked the girl over discreetly. She noted that River was a pretty young woman, with pale white skin offsetting raven black hair and dark grey, almost black eyes. "My name is Emily Prentiss. I'm going to ask you a few questions, alright?" she asked as she sat down beside the bed. "You don't have to answer anything you don't feel comfortable with."

"Okay," River responded flatly. Prentiss couldn't help but notice that her voice was completely flat, void of any emotion.

"Can you tell me a little bit about your birth family?" Prentiss asked. She wanted to start with potentially lighter topics before moving to the issue at hand.

"I only know what the people at the orphanage told me," River answered.

"Can you tell me what they said?" Prentiss asked.

"They don't know who my father is or was, my mother died having me, and I have three older siblings. My older sister apparently killed over 15 people, the older of my twin older brothers was kidnapped when he was eight, and the younger twin killed three people," River responded without batting an eyelash. It was as if she didn't care.

"And your adoptive family?" Prentiss asked.

"I don't want to talk about them," River answered.

Prentiss frowned. She most certainly had _not _been expecting that answer, but it did send off warning bells. "The hospital contacted your adoptive father," she said. River tensed at that. A flash of what seemed like fear went across her features before she regained her neutral expression. "Are you sure you can't tell me about him?"

"I told you I don't want to talk about him," River repeated coldly.

"Do you know anything about the recent murders that have been occurring in the area?" Prentiss asked gently.

River nodded. "Three girls were found dead, right? Police didn't think anything about it until they noticed similar things?"

"Do you know anything about the girls?" Prentiss asked.

"Lena Jones, Madison Kennedy, and Elizabeth Anderson," River listed off without any sort of hesitation whatsoever.

"And how did you find out their names?" Prentiss asked, knowing that the names hadn't been released to the media.

"I read it somewhere," River lied. Her composure faded for a fraction of a second, flashing from fear to sadness back to neutrality.

"River, if you know something, we need you to tell us," Prentiss pushed. "Anything you have can help us get a name and put the one responsible away for good."

"It doesn't matter if I tell you anything or not," River argued, finally looking over at the agent. "Because you won't find him unless he wants to get caught."

"You know the man, then?" Prentiss asked.

"Like I said, it doesn't matter. He'll get away. He always does," she was starting to panic.

"River, calm down, nothing is going to happen to you while we're involved, alright? Just please… Give me the name."

River took several shaky breaths before speaking again; seeming to realize it was in her best interest to comply. "Ciaran McGee," she said softly.

"And how do you know him?"

"He's the one that adopted me."

"**To cheapen the lives of any group of men, cheapens the lives of all men, even our own. This is a law of human psychology, or human nature. And it will not be repealed by our wishes, nor will it be merciful to our blindness."**

**-William Pickens**


	3. Chapter 3

"**There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds."**

**-Laurell K. Hamilton, **_**Mistral's Kiss**_

_Everything was so dark… No, dark didn't describe it at all. Darkness was tangible, darkness implied promise of light… This… This was maddening. How many days it had been, she didn't know. She had no clues from the outside world telling her anything. All she had was the occasional 'visit,' and how she hated those with a passion. She felt like the walls were closing in around her, like she couldn't breathe, couldn't move. And it instilled terror in her young mind, terror that no being should be forced to experience._

_She heard the door open. Burning rays of light flooded into the room, though only allowing her to see a sliver from the world beyond the room. She did not know how many came into her make-shift prison. _

_She felt dominating hands moving along her body. Hot breath ran down her neck and made her shudder. "Stop," she tried to plead, but was met with a harsh slap across the face. There were definitely two, maybe three, men, demons sent straight from hell to torture her. Before long, she was on the ground, completely defenseless._

"STOP!" a blood curdling shriek could be heard throughout the hospital as River shot awake from her previously drug-induced slumber. She looked around the room in a panicked daze, clutching the sheets of the bed tightly. She froze when she saw that someone was in the room.

Hotch jumped awake when he heard the scream and instinctively looked over at the girl. He had offered to stay with her to make sure no one came to do anything, especially after receiving the news from Prentiss that the unsub they were after was apparently her adoptive father. "River?" he asked gently as he stood up. "It's me. Remember? I brought you here."

River took several shaky breaths before speaking. "Why are you still here? Leave!" she shouted at him furiously.

"I can't do that," Hotch tried to reason with her. "We need someone with you to make sure you don't get taken. Morgan and Prentiss had to leave. You remember Prentiss, the one who asked you the questions? You haven't met Morgan yet, but I promise he wants to help you as well, along with the others."

"I don't need any help!" River snarled at him.

"Judging by the fact that you just woke up screaming, I would have to reason otherwise," Hotch sighed before speaking again. "We discussed your situation with my boss while you were asleep," he continued. He hadn't exactly wanted to tell her at that particular point in time, but he decided it would be best to get it over with. "She has agreed that you need to be under some sort of security so as to keep you safe. You'll be going home with me tomorrow and will be there until further notice," he concluded. He had been the one to suggest that she be protected. Strauss had been the one to say that he would be the one doing it. River nodded wordlessly, her expression became totally blank, as if she were trying to tune him out. "I'm gone most of the day with work, but my son Jack's aunt will be there with you. Since Jack is off of school for another month, he'll be there as well."

"It doesn't matter anyway," River finally spoke up. Her voice was empty, as if nothing Hotch had just said mattered. "He'll still find me. He always does."

Hotch nodded slowly. "We're going to make sure that doesn't happen." He seemed to realize something. "Those girls that were killed, were they…" he started, but was cut off by River.

"My sisters," River nodded. "We knew it was coming. They got too old," she continued vaguely. Hotch frowned at that. "And no, I won't elaborate."

"Are you the youngest of them, then?" Hotch asked.

River shook her head. "Oldest," she corrected. "I'm 17, they were all 16. The youngest ones are five."

"How many are there?"

"Twelve at last count, nine now that the three are dead," River answered. It was as if she didn't care, as if she'd been expecting the murders to happen.

"If you're the oldest, why didn't he kill you first?"

"Because I'm the favorite," she deadpanned.

"Would you be willing to speak with Agent Morgan?" Hotch asked after several moments of silence. He knew that Morgan had been in a similar situation, though it appeared not to be to this extent, and figured she might be more open with someone who could relate. "I believe he can help you."

"Do I have a choice?" River scoffed. She turned onto her side to face away from Hotch.

"No, not really," Hotch sighed. "River, none of us are doing this to hurt you. We're trying to help you, and we are trying to help any others that may or may not be involved."

"Yeah, I've heard that before," River laughed dryly. "And that didn't get me anywhere. What time is it anyway?"

"Three AM," Hotch responded, trying to stifle a yawn. "You should get back to sleep. We'll leave as soon as you're up in the morning." He stood and left the room to contact Morgan.

"Morgan?" Hotch said into the phone as soon as Morgan answered his. "I need you to talk to the girl. I think you'll get more information than Prentiss and I have," he said. One thing was for sure, it was going to be a _long _case.

"**I am both numb and oversensitive, overwhelmed by the need, the raw and desperate need of the girls I am listening to and trying to help. I'm overdosing on the trauma of others, while still barely healing from my own.****  
****I cry for hour at home and have fitful nights of little sleep. My nightmares resurface as my own pain is repeated to me, magnified a thousand times. It feels insurmountable. How can you save everyone? How can you rescue them? How do you get over your pain? How do you ever feel normal?"**

**-Rachel Lloyd, **_**Girls Like Us: Fighting for a World Where Girls are Not for Sale, an Activist Finds Her Calling and Heals Herself**_


	4. Chapter 4

"**No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path."**

**-Buddha**

The following morning had been quite quiet, or at least that was how Hotch had interpreted it. Once River had woken up, he had called Beth to come pick them up, as she had taken the car the night before in order to get Jack home.

"We need to establish a few rules, alright?" Hotch asked as he sat down across from River at the table in the dining room of the condo he had previously only lived in with his son. River nodded wordlessly. She hadn't spoken at all since she had woken in the middle of the night. "Most of these are only temporary safety precautions," he added before starting the list. "For the time being, stay inside unless another member of my team or I need to take you to headquarters. If he's on the loose, we can't risk you getting caught. You can watch what you want on the TV, but let Jack pick shows every once in awhile. Don't get on the Internet, again for safety reasons. You'll have to sleep on the couch for a few days until we can get something more permanent established. Just… Use common sense, alright?"

River nodded in agreement. It hadn't been anything she wasn't expecting, nor was it nothing new. She had heard similar speeches many times and seriously doubted this would differ even slightly from the norm.

"And then there's school to worry about," Hotch sighed. "If you're going to be here for any lengthened period of time…"

"He let me have books," River finally spoke up, cutting Hotch off mid-sentence. "Like textbooks and things."

Hotch blinked in surprise. He hadn't been expecting to hear that. "What subjects?" he asked. This was a start. If that was the case, he might have been able to pull a few strings when it came to the education system.

"Normal school subjects, I guess," River shrugged. "We taught ourselves grammar, science, and math up to an eleventh grade level."

"That must have been difficult, having to learn it on your own," Hotch commented.

"Not really. It was all really easy. I don't see why the others had trouble with it," she replied bluntly. Hotch sighed yet again. He knew the girl had good reason to be upset, angry, but this almost scared him. It was like she didn't feel _anything_.

He checked the time and cursed under his breath. He was running late. He doubted the team would care, knowing the situation given, but his superiors would. "I need to leave for work now. If there's an emergency, my cell number is on speed-dial."

"I thought I was supposed to talk to an Agent Morgan or something?" River asked without looking up over at Hotch.

Hotch was taken aback by that. "Do you feel ready to do so?" he asked after a moment.

"It doesn't matter if I am or not," River said icily. "I said I'd do it, didn't I?"

Hotch decided to let the attitude problem slide. He knew the situation was hard on her and that she needed time to heal.

* * *

River was waiting for Morgan in one of the less… intimidating interview rooms. Hotch, Prentiss, Rossi, and Reid were watching from the observation room behind the glass. "It's weird," Reid commented. He noted the confused look on Prentiss's face before continuing. "She doesn't act like a rape victim, or a victim of child sexual abuse. There's no anger, no crying, no resentfulness, no fear. Not to mention the fact that she went along with you," he looked at his boss. "With no questions asked."

"So what are you thinking?" Prentiss asked as she watched Morgan enter the room with River. She noted that the girl flinched slightly, but otherwise didn't react.

"I'm thinking this has been going on longer than we originally thought," Reid answered. "We assumed the three girls were all assaulted just before they were murdered…"

"And you're thinking that it's been going on longer," Rossi finished for him. "But how much longer?"

"Months, likely, but years even more likely," Reid answered before shutting up so that they could hear the conversation.

"River?" Morgan asked as he sat down across from the girl. "My name is Derek Morgan," he introduced himself. "I'm just going to ask you to do and answer a few things. You can stop the interview at any time, alright?" River nodded in reply. "You said that the one who murdered those three girls was your adoptive father?"

River nodded yet again. "Their adoptive father as well."

"And you said he killed them because they got to be too old?" Morgan asked. "What did you mean by that?"

"I mean they got too old," River answered.

"But you're older than them, and you're still here," Morgan pointed out.

"Because I'm the favorite," River sighed in annoyance. She'd already been asked these questions at the hospital.

"What were they too old for?" Morgan asked gently. He knew he was walking on thin ice when River looked upset. At least they were getting some sort of emotional response from her.

"You don't know what he does, then?" River asked in a small voice. Morgan didn't know how to handle the sudden change.

"We had Garcia, our tech girl, try to find information on him, but everything came up with dead ends," Morgan answered. "This could really help us find him," he added.

River was shaking by that point, but still refusing to show any emotion. "He adopts girls…" she began. Morgan noted that her voice was shaking. "Young girls… Usually five years old. When they turn nine, he..." she shook her head, not able to finish.

Morgan felt a surge of anger course through his body. He wanted to kill the bastard that did this, but knew he couldn't. He knew the man wouldn't last too long in prison, though. "Does he do it, or does someone else?" he asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"A bunch of different people," River answered. "They pay him for it."

"He prostitutes you all out, then?" Morgan asked.

"Can we stop now?" River asked. Her voice cracked, but she refused to lose it in front of someone else. She had to keep herself together. She always had to keep her together or she or someone she cared about would get hurt.

"I know how you feel, baby girl," Morgan said after a moment. "You feel like you can't say anything, or something bad is going to happen. You feel like you have to keep everything bottled up, all of the anger, fear, hatred, confusion."

"How the hell do you know that?" River demanded. She had gone from scared to angry in a fraction of a second.

"Because I've been there," Morgan said. "But you've got to believe me that you can't keep it contained. Because whether you want to or not, all of those negative emotions are going to come out, and it won't be pretty when they do. You need to open up, or things won't get better. I'm not saying you need to talk to me, or even Hotch, about it, but someone. Anyone. You're brave for doing this, braver than I was."

"So we can stop now?" River pressed.

Morgan nodded after a moment. "You helped us a lot today, River," he said as he stood up. "I promise we're going to find him, and he's never going to hurt anyone again."

"You don't know that," River argued.

"Yeah I do," Morgan replied confidently.

"So we're looking for a pedophile, then?" Rossi asked the group he was with.

"I don't think so," Reid argued.

"Were you not listening?" Rossi questioned. "She just flat out said…"

"That people paid her father to use the girls," Reid cut him off. "We're not looking for a pedophile."

"No, Reid's right," Hotch sighed. He hated how many times he said that in a day. "We're looking for someone connected to pedophiles, but not one himself. And we still have a name to go off of."

"But those were all dead ends," Prentiss pointed out.

"But now we have a name and a profile. If one doesn't lead us, the other will," Hotch responded.

"God I want to kill this son of a bitch," Rossi shook his head angrily.

"I think we all do," Hotch said before leaving the room.

"**The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it."**

**-Albert Einstein **


	5. Chapter 5

"**In three words, I can sum up everything I have learned about life: it goes on."**

**-Robert Frost**

_Everything was cold, so cold… She had been so close. The plan was foolproof, so where had she gone wrong? She had waited for optimal timing. She had found holes in schedules that would let her get out… So why had it not worked?_

_She was running, about to scale the wall separating her from the outside world when she had slipped and fallen into a frozen pond. She had been so close…_

"_And just what the hell do you think you're doing?" a sinister voice demanded as he roughly pulled her from the water. The girl remained silent, knowing it was in her best interest to do so. "Oh you're going to regret this, that's for damn sure."_

"River!" Jack Hotchner called through the condo. It had been a week since she had come to stay with him and his father, and he had noticed several things in that time. She was quiet, she was blunt, she was helping his father with the case, and she was probably going to be there for a very long time. He ran into the room his father and his friends were finally able to set up for her and jumped onto the bed. "River, wake up! Aunt Jessica's here!" he said happily.

River groaned and rolled over in her sleep, trying to block Jack out. She figured as far as kids went, he could be worse, but he still annoyed her. She was never mean to him, though, as she didn't want to upset the man who had invited her in. "Okay," she finally sighed when Jack started poking her. She sighed as she got up. "So why wake me up?" she asked with a slight frown.

"Remember?" Jack asked in a slightly annoyed tone of voice. "Daddy said Aunt Jessica has to take you to school so you can take tests or something!"

River groaned in response. She had forgotten about that. It had been determined that she would be there at least a few months into the school year. Hotch had talked to the administrative staff at the public high school, trying to see if they could get her into classes with people her age. They eventually reached the compromise that she would take placement tests and receive credit for everything below the class level they determined her to be at. "Leave so I can change," she said, closing the door behind the boy. It was going to be a _long _day.

* * *

"Alright River, let's see where the computer placed you," the guidance counselor, a woman who seemed to be _much _too happy to be at the school early in the morning said in a _much _too cheerful tone. A confused look crossed the woman's face as she observed the results.

"Is something wrong?" Jessica asked the woman.

"You say you're self-taught until this point?" the woman asked. River nodded slowly. "Odd…" she mused before printing out what River assumed would be her school schedule. To say she was nervous would be a dramatic understatement. She had never been in a public school setting. Hell, she had never been around many people at a time in what could be described as a 'safe' location. The woman smiled as she handed River the paper.

River nervously looked down at it. _'Name: River Washburn. Age: 17. Status: Transfer Student. Incoming Grade Level: Senior. Locker: 678. Combination: 45-11-32. Student ID Number: 20439. 1__st__ Period: AP Literature / Composition 12. 2__nd__ Period: Spanish I. 3__rd__ Period: Government / Economics. 4__th__ Period: Integrated Chemistry-Physics. 5__th__ Period: Calculus II. Lunch. 6__th__ Period: Anatomy / Physiology. 7__th__ Period: Probability / Statistics. 8__th__ Period: AP Psychology.'_

"So what does it mean?" Jessica asked as she looked over River's shoulder.

"It means she did an excellent job teaching herself," the counselor answered. "That, or she's near-genius."

"Is that a good thing?" River asked before she heard Jessica's phone ringing. Jessica excused herself to answer the phone.

"It means you'll fit right in," the woman said. "Or at least you will academically. The social transition will be difficult." River nodded in response. "I'm sure you'll be just fine."

"So she's really smart, then?" Jack, who had been quiet through the conversation, asked. "Is she as smart as my daddy's friend? He's a doctor…"

"She might be," the woman laughed. "Who knows? Were your parents or siblings highly intelligent?" she asked curiously.

"I wouldn't know," River responded flatly.

Jessica popped back into the room, a frown on her face. "River, they need you down at headquarters," she said almost grimly.

"What for?" River asked as she stood up.

"They have a list of names," Jessica answered. "They want to know if any are familiar."

* * *

River stared blankly down at the pages and pictures in front of her. She was sick and tired of all of the crime-investigation things. She knew it was important. She knew she could help them quite a bit with what she new, but she was _tired _of it. She was tired of reliving everything. She was tired of people getting frustrated with her. Yet there she was. At least this was somewhat different.

"Do any of them look familiar?" Morgan asked the girl. Hotch had once again asked that he be the one to talk to her.

River nodded as she glanced over them again.

"Which ones?" he asked.

River sighed before pulling seven of the make-shift files apart from the others. "These definitely," she said.

"Where do you know them from?" Morgan asked gently. "Were they ones that borrowed you?" he hated using that term, but he didn't know how else to word it.

"Only five of them," River answered. "The other three had different favorites."

"What do you mean by favorites?"

"The ones they requested the most."

"And you're certain you know these?" Morgan asked. They had to be sure. False accusations never made the bureau look good.

"Positive," River answered.

"Did you see them often?" By this point he was asking more out of curiosity and genuine concern than for investigation purposes.

"Often enough," River responded just as Hotch entered the room.

"How did the testing go?" Hotch asked. He ignored Morgan's presence for the time being. He wanted to ask that question as soon as possible. He didn't like waiting. River shrugged and handed him the schedule. Hotch blinked in surprise. "That's impressive," he commented. "Strong language and math skills, though science could use a little touching up on, but school doesn't start for another two weeks…" he trailed off.

"I'll be fine," River assured. "At least, I think I will. Can I go now?" she asked. Hotch nodded and she left the room.

"So how's she adjusting?" Morgan asked once the two men were alone.

Hotch sighed before speaking. "I'm not sure. She's still quiet, which we all expected. Nights are a little rough, it seems like that's when she's most on-edge, which would make sense, I suppose, but still."

"She opened up any?" Morgan asked.

Hotch shook his head. "Which is concerning. I wish I knew how to help her, but I don't."

"She'll come to you when she's ready," Morgan assured. "She just needs time. Lots of it. How's Jack handling all this?"

Hotch smiled slightly. "He likes having her there, I think. Almost like an older sibling, albeit one that's only been there a week. Any leads?" he asked, suddenly all business.

Morgan handed him the files. "Seven of them."

Hotch nodded. "We need to split up the team, then," he thumbed through the files. "You and I will take two each. Reid, Prentiss, and JJ will each take one."

"When do we leave?"

"Now."

"**There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you."**

**-Maya Angelou **


	6. Chapter 6

"**I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much."**

**-Mother Teresa**

SSA Aaron Hotchner walked into the living room of the first of the two men he was to interview regarding the case. He hated talking to people like this, talking to the worst kind of scum on the face of the earth, but it was necessary if they were going to get anywhere. At least the man, Avery Barnes, had agreed to cooperate. He knew the others wouldn't be that lucky. Of course it had helped that Hotch had pointed out if anything led to an arrest, he would be able to tell the prosecutor that he cooperated and aided the investigation.

"So you're investigating Ciaran then?" Avery asked as he sat across from the agent. He had only agreed to cooperate to be able to get a potential deal. He knew the feds were onto him, and he wanted to make life easier for himself.

Hotch nodded in response. "What can you tell me about him?" he asked.

"That you ain't never gonna catch him," Avery answered. "He covers his tracks too damn well."

Hotch sighed in annoyance. That was definitely _not _helpful. "Alright then, what about River Washburn?" he questioned. He didn't like the smirk that crossed the other man's face.

"Now I can tell you a lot about her," Avery responded, the smirk not leaving his face. Hotch resisted the urge he felt to punch that smirk off of his face. "Like how if you want time with her, you'd better book it well in advance. And then the time she tried to run away… Oh Ciaran was furious. Locked her in a closet for days, not to mention the other things that happened to her…" he trailed off when he saw the murderous look on Hotch's face.

"How do I find him?" Hotch demanded.

"I already told you that you can't."

"Bullshit," Hotch responded. "How do I find him?"

"I think you should leave now, Agent Hotchner," Avery said before escorting the man out.

* * *

"River, come on!" Jack groaned as he tried to get River to play with his action figures with him. "It's fun, I promise!"

River shook her head in annoyance, but decided to play with him anyway. She didn't want to, though. It wasn't that she didn't like Jack, _deep _down she was certain she did. She just didn't feel up to it. Her head hurt, she felt dizzy, and she was exhausted, though she couldn't help but think that she had felt that way many times before.

"Are you okay?" Jack asked, concern filling his young voice. After all, they'd only been home for a few minutes.

"Yeah, I'm fine," River assured. "Don't worry, okay?"

"No, I don't think you are," Jack argued. He stood up. "I'll go get Aunt Jessica to make sure, okay?" he asked, already going to go look for her.

"Really, I'm fine," the girl insisted. She stood up, as if to prove her point, but ended up collapsing and falling to the floor unconscious instead.

"Aunt Jessica!" Jack shouted at the top of his lungs as soon as River had blacked out.

* * *

Jessica ran into the room as quickly as she could. The shouting had scared her, and she needed to make sure the two were okay. She looked at Jack, and then at the unconscious River. "Oh my God…" she trailed off before pulling out her phone and calling Hotch. "Aaron? River collapsed. I'm taking her to the hospital. Meet me there."

"How is she?" Hotch asked as he made it into the waiting room of the ER. He had gotten the call en route to his other interviewee and had rushed there. Knowing what the girl had gone through, it could have been any number of things, and that concerned him. It seemed like his mind always jumped to the worst case scenario. He supposed that came with the territory of his occupation.

"Still unconscious," Jessica sighed. Jack was sitting on the floor playing a game on her phone.

"Do you know what happened yet?" Hotch sighed.

Jessica shook her head. "They drew blood and are testing it now to see if anything comes up. They know about as much as we do."

"What happened before she collapsed?"

Jessica shrugged. "After we left your office, we went out to eat. We got home, next thing I know, Jack's shouting for me. I came in and found her collapsed."

"Did anyone approach you at the restaurant?" Hotch asked.

"Not that I saw," Jessica sighed. "Why?" she asked as a doctor approached Hotch.

"You're the medical contact Aaron Hotchner, yes?" the woman asked without missing a beat. Hotch nodded. He was getting tired of hospitals. "It looks like she'll be fine."

"What caused the blackout?" Hotch asked.

"We found relatively high amounts of flunitrazepam in her system, which appears to have been the cause," the doctor answered.

Hotch frowned at that. "Rohypnol?" he asked. If that was the case, she had definitely been drugged, and it had definitely been by someone at the place they had stopped to eat at. "What are you doing for her?"

"She didn't overdose," the doctor said. "So all we can do is wait for her to wake up, which can take anywhere between two and twelve hours. She most likely won't remember anything that happened," she warned.

"Thank you," Hotch sighed. He watched as the woman started to walk away.

The doctor stopped mid-stride and turned around. "There is something else you should know," she said.

"And that would be?" Hotch pressed. He loathed it when people did not get directly to the point.

"We tested for various STDs," the doctor said.

"And?"

"And she tested positive for HIV," the woman finished. "I really am sorry," she said sympathetically before walking back into the emergency ward.

"God damn it!" Hotch shouted. He felt the need to hit something, anything, but didn't. "I swear to God, I'm going to kill that son of a bitch…" he had momentarily forgotten that his son was in the room.

"So why drug her if he wasn't going to take her?" Jessica asked with a frown. She needed to get him to calm down, and while not a cheery topic, it would get his mind off of the latter statement the doctor had given. "And why do it indirectly?'

"It probably wasn't a kidnap attempt," Hotch answered.

"What was it, then?"

"A warning. He knows she's with us, and he wants her back."

"So what do you do, then?"

"I don't know," Hotch sighed. "God I want to kill this bastard…" he trailed off. "You and Jack can leave, there's no reason for you to stay."

"But I want to make sure she's okay!" Jack piped up.

"That could take hours," Hotch warned.

"I don't care," Jack said. "She's my new big sister, so I have to make sure she's okay."

Hotch smiled slightly, a rare occurrence. "Okay then," he gave in. "I need to call Beth. She told me to let her know if anything happens."

"I understand," Jessica said. She watched as her former brother-in-law went outside. She couldn't help but feel as though that girl had gone through hell and back. She just wished they knew how to help her.

"**Numbing the pain for awhile will make it worse when you finally feel it."**

**-J.K. Rowling, **_**Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire**_

_****_**A/N: I will unfortunately not be able to update for several days due to a surgery I'm having, but I'll return as soon as I can type back at my keyboard! Thank you, my lovelies, for sticking with this story thus far! I'm glad you have enjoyed it. Fret not, I shall return as soon as possible.**

**-Manda**


	7. Chapter 7

"**Ringdove and robinet, is it for wages, singing to be sold? Have you decided it's safer in cages singing when you're told?"**

**-Stephen Sondheim, "Green Finch and Linnet Bird", **_**Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street**_

"How is she?" Beth asked as she rushed into the waiting room of the hospital. It seemed like they had been there much too often as of late, but she had still headed there as soon as she'd gotten the call that something had happened.

"Still out of it," Hotch sighed. He had been there for several hours, and the girl had yet to wake. That wasn't the only thing frustrating him, though. There was so much on his mind that he didn't know where to start.

"What else is bothering you?" Beth, who had seemingly read his mind, asked gently. She took the seat next to him.

"I don't know what else to do," Hotch shook his head. "We've asked all the right questions, we've taken all the right precautions, but we're still coming up with nothing. I don't know how to get her to trust us, let alone cooperate…" he was cut off by the woman at his side.

"If you want her to trust you and cooperate," Beth began. "You need to stop treating her like a witness and like a victim, and start treating her like a person. Start treating her like the scared girl she is."

"But she doesn't seem afraid," Hotch argued.

Beth sighed in exasperation. "You're right, Aaron. She's not afraid. She's _terrified, _and she needs someone to alleviate that fear. You need to be that person, or you aren't going to accomplish anything."

* * *

"Welcome back," Hotch said to the finally awake teenager. "You were out for a good seven hours."

"What happened?" River asked groggily. She had a massive headache, severely dry mouth, and couldn't remember most of what had happened earlier in the day.

"You were drugged," Beth said gently before Hotch could say the same thing bluntly.

"Rohypnol?" River guessed without missing a beat.

"You've been exposed to it before, then?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah, more times than I'd care to admit," the girl answered darkly.

"Were you ever drugged with anything else?" Hotch continued with the questions despite the condescending look he was receiving from Beth.

"Heroin, but only sometimes."

Hotch took a deep breath before speaking again. If he was going to have any hope of helping the girl, he had a strong feeling that he would have to take Beth's advice. "Is there anything you need or want to talk about?" he asked.

River shook her head. She wasn't ready to talk about what had happened., at least not that soon after she had been brought out of the negative situation.

A thought seemed to have crossed Hotch's mind. He had a feeling that if he got the right information, they would have a new lead in the case. "You were adopted, yes?" he asked.

River nodded. "Yeah, but if you're after a name, it's not going to do anything," she sighed in annoyance. "I already told you the only one I knew and the only one we ever heard him called by is Ciaran McGee, and you said that it was a dead end."

"I'm not after a name, I'm after a witness," Hotch said. "Do you remember the name of the agency the adoption happened through?"

River shook her head. "Just that it happened at the orphanage."

"And the name of the orphanage?" Hotch pressed.

"I don't know. Just that it was in West Virginia," River responded.

"Do you know the area it was around?"

"Wheeling."

* * *

After having Garcia try to find possible leads on orphanages, they had found one, St. John's Home for Children. Hotch had sent Morgan and Reid to the scene to talk to the staff and instructed them to look at old files.

"River Washburn, you said the girl's name is?" one of the administrators, an older woman, probably in her sixties, asked.

"That's correct," Morgan confirmed. "She would have been here about 12 years ago."

The woman nodded. "Oh yes, I remember her," she smiled slightly as she started going through files. "Strange case that one was."

"What was different about it?" Reid asked as he took a seat opposite of the desk. Morgan opted to remain standing near the doorway.

"Mother was a well-known prostitute," the woman answered. "Had four children that we were aware of, none of the fathers were known, all births were done at home. There were two girls and a pair of twin boys."

"That doesn't sound too out there," Morgan commented.

"That wasn't. What was odd is how the mother died. Stabbed to death, supposedly by the younger of the two twins, but the prosecutor never charged anyone, didn't want to waste funding. They were separated, though, except for the boys. The oldest girl was sent off to Charleston. The two boys seemed to disappear, and we received the youngest, River," the woman concluded. "Found it," she said as she pulled up the file.

"Can we look at it?" Reid asked.

"Be my guest," the woman answered. She handed the file to Reid. Morgan moved from the doorway to the desk so he could see as well.

"Adopted when she was five," Reid said mostly to himself. "But we knew that already…" he pulled out a picture of a man. At the time he was younger, most likely in his mid-twenties. He had darker hair and green eyes. Reid knew they could use the eye color to narrow down a suspect list. "Who is this?"

"That would be the man that adopted her," the woman answered. "John Stone was his name… May I ask what all of this is about?"

"We have reason to believe that this man has been adopting young girls to prostitute them out. Recently several have turned up dead. We have River under protective custody, and we need everything we can get," Morgan answered.

"Then by all means, take that with you," the woman said. "And if you need anything else, you know where to find us."

Once outside, Morgan made a call to Garcia. "Baby girl, I need you to look up John Stone," he said. He doubted the name was legitimate, but they might find more leads under it. "He'd be in his late 30s or early 40s by now, dark hair, green eyes."

"On it, my liege," Garcia said through the phone before hanging up and getting to work.

"**You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do."**

**-Eleanor Roosevelt, **_**You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life**_


End file.
